Disillusioned Memories
by S.P.D. Gold Ranger
Summary: My third joint story with Mat49324, and his last TS story period. A sinister kidnapping will put our spy friends to their ultimate test, and force Nick to decide where his loyalties truly lie...
1. If Days Could Kill

(Prologue, written by **S.P.D. Gold Ranger**)

**7:30 AM, Downtown Beverly Hills**

A 15-year-old girl with long, wavy auburn hair could be seen walking down the streets of Beverly Hills, a bright smile on her face.

May Iwakura was another close friend of Nick's, though she'd left about a few years ago to see the world at her parent's request.

The second she'd returned, she sent Nick an email hoping that they could meet up again. As of now, she was heading towards the spies' villa, where Nick was currently living with his friends.

"Wow. I can't believe it's been over three years since I've seen him," May stated to herself, looking at the bracelet that wrapped around her left wrist. It was a locket bracelet, given to her by Nick before she'd left for the world. Inside the locket strapped to the bracelet was a picture of Nick and May together at the park, hand in hand and smiling.

May sighed wistfully. She'd always loved that picture...

Suddenly, a series of loud honking sounds brought May out of her reverie. She looked up and groaned - the traffic was becoming too congested. Typical rush-hour nonsense.

Suddenly, May smiled brightly. "Guess I can hoof it."

Saying nothing, May tensed up, bending backwards a bit. Suddenly, a few of the random people looked towards May's position. One second, they saw her...

...but a split-second later, the people only saw thin air.

May had taken off in a rapid streak, her well-exercised legs propelling her forward as she effortlessly weaved through the congested traffic towards her destination. Many people that May sped by reached out of their vehicles to yell, but they only yelled at air.

(AN: Guess I forgot to mention that May is_ ridiculously _fast. She's not as fast as Sonic the Hedgehog, per se, but she's got a speed in humans that is unique to her. She took track and field for a couple years and I guess her body naturally adapted to it.)

**Meanwhile, in a shady-looking building...**

Somewhere in a dark building, a mysterious figure was watching May's speed-running on a set of viewscreens.

"Interesting... this girl's speed is something I will have to... _acquire,_" the mystery man stated, laughing maniacally. Then, he turned to a girl he was holding captive.

"Isn't that right... Hikari?"

**In the spies' villa...**

It seemed like a normal day to the spies, at least for a short while after the intense battle that nearly cost them two of their friends. Alex, Nozomi, Mathew, Sam, and Clover were still asleep, while Nick, Haruka, and Bridget were sitting together on the couch, watching the sunrise.

"Man, it feels good to be just sitting here with my friends, just relaxing, _especially_ after what just happened," Nick stated to nobody in particular.

"We're just glad you're all right, Nick," Haruka explained in a slightly worried tone. "I was so afraid we were going to lose you back there..."

"You girls have to learn to stop worrying so much. It's gonna take a lot more than that to bring me down," Nick explained.

**Back in the suburbs...**

After a while of her super-speed running, May finally reached the suburbs, stopping right in front of the spies' villa.

"I think this is the place. I just hope he's home..." May said to herself, walking up and knocking twice on the villa's door.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

(Memories can be deceiving. They can be a benevolent ruler, or a cruel mistress. But what happens when they're both?)

Mat49324 and S.P.D. Gold Ranger present:  
_Totally Spies! Undercover_ in: "Disillusioned Memories"  
Rated: K+ for intense moments and a bit of harsh language (the usual with us)  
Summary: My third joint project with Mat49324 that picks up right from where _Beyond the Looking Glass_ left off. Another of Nick's friends, May Iwakura, has returned from her world travels, but a mysterious madman has also emerged, and this can only mean trouble for our spy friends. This next series of adventures will put Nick and the spies to the ultimate test, and a sinister plot will force Nick to decide where his loyalties truly lie...

Disclaimer: Neither Mathew nor I own _Totally Spies_ (though we wish we did). The show belongs to Marathon, Inc. But I own the characters of Nick, Haruka, Bridget, May, Nozomi, and Hikari (she'll be coming up soon enough), and we own the plot of this story, so no using author-created characters in your own stories unless you have our permission. Just thought I'd get that out of the way.

One more thing: This is Mat49324's last Totally Spies story, period (joint or not). He's retired from it (cause we can't find it anymore right now), and he's now going to work on stories for _Detective Conan/Case Closed._ He just wanted me to tell you that.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Chapter 1: If Days Could Kill...

Before Haruka could say anything else, the three friends heard a few knocks on the door.

"I'll get it!" Nick exclaimed, heading for the door. When he opened it, he gasped in surprise: a 15-year-old girl with long, wavy auburn hair, pure emerald green eyes, and an orange and black dress was standing in the doorway. Nick instantly recognized her.

"NICK!!" the girl shouted.

"MAY!!" Nick exclaimed back, throwing his arms around his friend, who in turn did the same.

"I knew I'd find you here!" May exclaimed. "You ALWAYS put your address on your emails!"

"I guess it's a habit," Nick responded. "I take it you already know Haruka?"

"Clear as crystal," May replied.

"And this," Nick explained, pointing to Bridget, "is Bridget Taylor, a friend I met when I first came to America."

"Nice to meet you, Bridget," May greeted, to which Bridget responded with a shy wave of her hand.

"Didn't you say you had some more friends?" May asked.

"Yeah. They should be waking up just about now. When they come down here, I'll introduce you to them," Nick explained, just in time to hear a yawn from upstairs.

(Written by **Mat49324**)

(Sam's P.O.V.)

I awoke from my slumber and stepped into the bathroom to change to my swimsuit for a morning swim. When I came down, I noticed another girl with Nick, Haruka and Bridget.

"Hey, who're you?" I asked.

"Oh, Sam," Nick said.

"This is May Iwakura -- another one of my close friends; May, this is Sam."

"Geez, how many 'close friends' do you have?" I said.

The four of them noticed me in my swimsuit.

"Another morning swim, Sam?" Haruka asked.

"Mm-hmm," I simply responded.

"Care to join?"

"Sure," Haruka and Bridget said.

Nick joined us.

"What about you, May?" Nick asked.

"Sure, why not," May responded.

(Written by **S.P.D. Gold Ranger**)

"Wow, Nick," Sam stated to Nick, "you sure seem to have a lot of friends from Japan, huh?"

"I was kinda popular back at Umi no Hoshi," Nick explained. "But May was a different story. She saved me from a bully, and we just hit it off after that."

(flashback)

_Nick was walking through the hallways of his middle school alma mater, Umi no Hoshi, just hoping he could get to class without running..._

"_Hey, kid!"_

_...into him._

_The local school bully, Burt, had just come around, and he'd been making it a habit to bother the heck out of Nick recently. As you could tell, Nick was getting pretty sick of it._

"_Look, Burt. I'm in a real hurry, and I'm not in the mood for this," Nick responded. "I have a VERY IMPORTANT English class I cannot afford to miss, so would you kindly shove off?"_

_Nick tried to dodge around Burt, but he wouldn't let Nick get by. "I don't think so, buddy. Your lunch money has a very important meeting with me today, so fork it over!"_

_Even though Burt had brute strength on his side, he wasn't very smart. He didn't realize that Nick had brought his own lunch today. "Back off, Burt! I brought my own lunch today!"_

"_You honestly don't seem to get it, Burt! I'm not in the mood today! Now MOVE!" Nick shouted, breaking into a dash around Burt..._

_...only to feel a clenched hand come down on his back, causing him to fall to the linoleum floor, dropping his schoolbooks._

"_Give me your lunch money before I do something you'll regret," Burt said with a menacing tone, advancing on Nick, but was stopped by a new female voice._

"_How about you let that kid get to class before _I _do something _you'll_ regret?" the new voice stated. Burt turned around to see a girl with long, flowing auburn hair and an orange outfit standing in a fighting stance._

"_Jeez! YOU!" Burt exclaimed with a bit of fear in his voice, scrambling to his feet and making a run for it. The girl that had scared Burt off walked up to Nick and started picking up some of his books for him as Nick picked himself up._

"_Wow. Thanks," Nick said to the girl. "Why was he so scared of you?"_

"_He'd heard rumors of the special karate classes I've been taking. He didn't really believe they were true," the girl responded._

"_Either way, thanks for scaring him off," Nick replied, holding his hand out to the new arrival, who promptly shook his hand._

"_By the way, my name's May Iwakura," the girl stated. "Would you like to be friends?"_

"_Sure," Nick replied. "Anyone who can do THAT to Burt is a winner in my book." With that, Nick finally picked up the last of his books._

"_Okay, let's get you to class," May noted, leading Nick towards his next class._

(end flashback)

"May really saved my butt that day," Nick replied.

"Okay, guys, I'm ready to swim!" May called out, coming back downstairs in an amethyst one-piece swimsuit.

Suddenly, Nick heard a beeping upstairs. Someone was trying to call him on his X-Powder, which he'd hooked to his phone line a couple weeks ago.

"You girls go ahead and get some swimming in. I'll be right there," Nick stated, dashing upstairs.

Inside Nick's room, his X-Powder was beeping like mad. Nick quickly opened up, looking at the screen, which displayed a random assortment of jumbled letters.

"Oh. Looks like someone sent me a message in secret code," Nick noted, pressing a green button on his X-Powder. A second later, the letters began rearranging themselves as the X-Powder began decoding the secret message.

A few seconds later, a loud beep rang out as the decoding finished. Unfortunately, when he saw the decoded message, he gave out a loud gasp of shock.

"Oh, no!" Nick exclaimed, picking up his X-Powder and bolting downstairs.

(back to the swim)

May dove underwater, relying on her gracefulness and agility to put on a good show for Sam and Haruka.

"Wow, girl, you're pretty good," Sam noted as May came back up for air.

"I guess after being on the track team for so long, you get used to stuff like this," was May's simple reply.

That was when May noticed that Haruka had gone missing. May simply smirked, tensing up.

The exact second Haruka (who had dove underwater for a surprise attack) surfaced and lunged at May, she gracefully dodged and retaliated with a powerful arm sweep attack that left the other two girls completely drenched.

"How'd you see me coming?" Haruka asked while brushing off the splash.

"I could hear you from the other side of the pool," May replied. "I attribute that to my martial arts training."

"Really?" Sam asked. "What style do you prefer to use?"

"You know, I never really thought of that..." May pondered. "Sometimes I prefer to use Shotokan karate. That's the style I grew up with. But, other times, I like using Tai Ji Quan martial arts. Nick taught me that style."

Suddenly, Haruka heard some rapid footsteps. "Who's making all that noise?"

Nick made a run for it, not even noticing that he'd dropped his X-Powder on his way down. Completely forgetting about the girls, and the secret message still ringing in his head, Nick stormed out the door, earning a few looks of confusion from Sam, May, and Haruka.

"Where's Nick going?" May asked. "I thought he wanted to swim with us!"

"He looked a little freaked out, didn't he?" Haruka asked, walking back towards the spot where Nick had dropped his X-Powder, a towel wrapped around her body.

"He dropped his X-Powder! He must be in a real hurry, whatever that..." was about as far as Haruka got as she read the decoded message that was still on the screen of Nick's X-Powder.

"Girls! We have a problem!" Haruka shouted, racing back to the girls.

"What's the matter, dear?" Sam asked.

"Look at this!" Haruka exclaimed, thrusting Nick's X-Powder towards Sam and May, who read the message on display:

"**To Nick Kelly:  
****I have your beloved cousin Hikari as my hostage. You will come to the 9th Street Pier in twenty minutes or you will never see her alive again."**

(Written by **Mat49324**)

(Mathew's P.O.V.)

I had just got up and decided to have a morning shave of my chin. When I came downstairs, only Sam was outside in the pool waiting.

"Out here again, Sam?" I asked.

"Mm-hmm," Sam responded.

"But I got a feeling that something bad has happened."

That's when I noticed another girl I didn't recall seeing before.

"Sam, we've got a problem here," she said to her.

"Wait a sec," I said.

"Just who the heck are you?"

"Nick will explain once we find him," Sam said to me, climbing out of the pool.

"Now come on, Mathew... We've got to get Clover, Alex and the others up and tell them we've got another emergency."

(Written by **S.P.D. Gold Ranger**)

Not daring to look back, lest he lose time, Nick only began to speed up as best he could, racing towards the 9th Street Pier to save his cousin. He didn't even know that his spy friends were chasing him, shouting for him to explain just where the heck he was going.

"Hikari... I don't know what this freak's done to you, but I swear to god I'm going to make him pay," Nick said to himself, hanging a sharp right at the downtown intersection, taking him into the city.

"Man! He's going so fast that I can't even keep up with him anymore!" Alex exclaimed, and she was usually the athletic one of the group.

"Then let's split into teams and try to track him down," Nozomi explained. "Alex, you go with Sam, Clover and May and check downtown. Mat, Bridget, Haruka, you guys are coming with me. We're going by the wharf."

Once everyone had grouped into Nozomi's suggested teams, they split and headed towards their destination.

Nick checked his watch; no small feat at the speed he was going. "Only five minutes left..." That was all the motivation Nick needed to kick it into overdrive.

In a few more minutes, he'd reached the 9th Street Pier, desperately searching for an entrance. Soon enough, he'd found a door that held a sign. It read: "Evil supervillain's lair."

"Figures," Nick said to himself. Wasting no more time than was necessary, Nick brought his foot up, and in one swift kick, the door to the 'lair' was down. Inside was a tangled mess of computer consoles, with a man standing by the central console. Nick couldn't see who it was, since the dark and dankness of the pier was keeping the man in the shadows. To the other side, Nick could see a girl tied up; a girl with long, wavy violet hair that reached down to her waist, along with a pink and blue blouse and dress combo. The pink and white scarf wrapped around her neck was a dead giveaway as to her identity.

"Well, well," the shadowed man stated. "I was almost beginning to think you wouldn't show."

"Stow it, you jackass!" Nick shot back, raising his fist. "Let Hikari go or else!"

"Oh, Nick. I thought you knew me better. I never capture hostages alone. I always go for pairs."

"What?" Nick exclaimed, but that was when he noticed another girl next to Hikari, both struggling to break free of their bindings. The second girl was wearing a pink t-shirt covered by a blue sweater, and a light blue skirt that reached down to just above her knees. Her hair was a bright ruby red, and spiked down in a style that reminded Nick a lot of Clover's hairstyle, only much spikier. Nick gave a gasp of shock as soon as he'd recognized the second girl.

"Maylu..."

Nick quickly turned back to the shadowed man. "You bastard! _You took my sister, too?_"

"I told you, I don't prefer to travel alone."

Nick immediately made a break for the two girls, only to be stopped by the returning voice of the shadowed man.

"Ah, ah. I wouldn't do that if I were you. One more step towards them and they'll pay the price."

Nick stood rooted to the spot, secretly charging up a psychic energy burst. "All right, what do you want?"

"All I prefer is for you to ally with me. Together, we could conquer the world!"

Nick's energy ball was beginning to grow. Suddenly, Nick smirked. "Sorry. I prefer to travel first class!"

With that, Nick fired the psychic energy burst, which flew towards the shadowed man at an alarming speed. About a second later, the energy ball collided with the shadowed man, knocking him clear into a set of consoles. Nick took advantage of the moment of distraction to run over and untie his cousin and sister.

"Nick? Just what was that?" Hikari asked as Nick undid the bindings holding the two girls.

"I'll explain later. Right now, we need to get out of here before that guy wakes up!"

Suddenly, the shadowed man began stirring, and Nick could hear a series of familiar voices coming from the nearby door.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

All right! Here we go! This one's just getting started!

Next time:

Chapter 2: If Loyalties Could Lie...  
The Spies finally form one group to take down the latest villain du jour, but a sinister request will force Nick to decide where his loyalties lie...

Ja ne,  
Mat49324 and S.P.D. Gold Ranger


	2. If Loyalties Could Lie

_Previously on Disillusioned Memories..._

"Where's Nick going?" May asked. "I thought he wanted to swim with us!"

"He looked a little freaked out, didn't he?" Haruka asked, walking back towards the spot where Nick had dropped his X-Powder, a towel wrapped around her body.

"He dropped his X-Powder! He must be in a real hurry, whatever that..." was about as far as Haruka got as she read the decoded message that was still on the screen of Nick's X-Powder.

"Girls! We have a problem!" Haruka shouted, racing back to the girls.

"What's the matter, dear?" Sam asked.

"Look at this!" Haruka exclaimed, thrusting Nick's X-Powder towards Sam and May, who read the message on display:

"**To Nick Kelly:**

**I have your beloved cousin Hikari as my hostage. You will come to the 9th Street Pier in twenty minutes or you will never see her alive again."**

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

(Memories can be deceiving. They can be a benevolent ruler, or a cruel mistress. But what happens when they're both?)

**Mat49324** and **S.P.D. Gold Ranger** present:

_Totally Spies! Undercover_ in: "Disillusioned Memories"

Rated: K+ for intense moments and a bit of harsh language (the usual with us)

Summary: My third joint project with Mat49324 that picks up right from where _Beyond the Looking Glass_ left off. Another of Nick's friends, May Iwakura, has returned from her world travels, but a mysterious madman has also emerged, and this can only mean trouble for our spy friends. This next series of adventures will put Nick and the spies to the ultimate test, and a sinister plot will force Nick to decide where his loyalties truly lie...

On Today's Episode: The Spies finally form one group in order to take down our latest villain du jour, but this mysterious menace seems to have other plans...

Disclaimer: Neither Mathew nor I own _Totally Spies_ (though we wish we did). The show belongs to Marathon, Inc. But I own the characters of Nick, Haruka, Bridget, May, Nozomi, and Hikari, and we own the plot of this story, so no using author-created characters in your own stories unless you have our permission. Just thought I'd get that out of the way.

Note 1: This is Mat49324's last _Totally Spies_ story, period (joint or not). He's retired from it (cause we can't find it anymore right now), and he's now going to work on stories for _Detective Conan/Case Closed_. He just wanted me to tell you that.

Note 2: Jeez, man, what the hell have I been doing with this? Okay, enough putting off. Let's get this back into action!

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Chapter 2: If Loyalties Could Lie

(Written by **S.P.D. Gold Ranger**)

It wasn't long before the Spies were able to burst through the door.

"Why didn't you wait for us, Nick?" Alex asked.

"Villains don't usually wait on ultimatums," Nick responded. "Isn't that RIGHT?" That second part was directed straight at the mystery villain.

The shadowed man just snickered. "You apparently do not seem to understand."

Nick just smirked, his eyes glowing yellow. "Understand THIS."

With that, Nick used his psychic hold and slammed the shadowed man into another computer console.

However, he only seemed to shake it off.

"Why won't you just stay down, freak show?" Nick exclaimed.

"Um..." Clover asked, just now noticing the two new girls. "Who are these two?"

"Long story short, the girl with blue hair is Hikari, my cousin, and the girl with red hair is Maylu, my sister," Nick explained. "You girls need to get them out of here before this gets ugly!"

"I'll take care of that. Come on, girls, let's let the professionals handle things here," Haruka giggled, rushing over to Hikari and Maylu and leading them towards the door.

"Hey, hey! At least tell me if Nick's gonna be all right!" Hikari exclaimed.

"Trust me, he's used to things like this," Haruka responded. "Let's just leave it to him."

Back on the battlefield, Nick stared down the shadowed man.

"Why don't we just put an end to this?" Nick stated.

"Funny," the shadowed man responded. "I was about to suggest the same thing."

Not wasting any time, Nick rushed forward, lashing out into a spinning kick that the shadowed man couldn't dodge in time, knocking him straight into yet another computer.

However, unseen to Nick, the shadowed man had tossed out something that had landed on Nick's back.

"Now are you gonna knock it off before I have to get nasty?" Nick challenged. The shadowed man was silent.

"I thought so."

And with that, Nick ran out of the lair to rejoin his spy friends.

"Nick, do you have any idea how worried I was?" Alex exclaimed, pulling Nick into a tight hug.

"I could probably take a wild guess," Nick laughed, quickly returning the hug.

However, just then, the mysterious device that the shadowed man had tossed activated, covering Nick in an electrical field that shocked him into unconsciousness.

(From **Mat49324**)

"NICK! NO!" Alex screamed.

"Hold it!" Haruka spoke before Alex could even move a muscle.

"Whaddya got, Haruka?" Sam asked.

As Haruka moved even closer, she could see the electric device on the unconscious Nick's back.

"He's fine… but I see something on his back," Haruka replied. "Does anyone have anything to clip it off?" She asked the group.

"Try grabbing it with your hand first," Sam suggested. "If you're shocked… I've got a rubber glove in my backpack, and I'll get it."

"Alright," Haruka replied.

(Alex's P.O.V.)

I watched in grief as Haruka carefully reached her hand in on the electric device on Nick's back.

_Please let Haruka grab it_, I thought.

Just when she was about to touch it, Haruka's hand was electrocuted. She came back, holding it.

"Guess I better try the old rubber touch," Sammy replied, putting on her rubber glove.

She tried it out, and was able to successfully pull it off of Nick's back.

"Rubber always works," She said.

"Okay, what next?" Mathew asked.

"We send this to Jerry for an analysis," Sam answered.

"And hope we get something good from him," Clover added.

(Written by **S.P.D. Gold Ranger**)

(Nick's P.O.V.)

My eyes slowly opened, trying to adjust themselves after I had gotten the literal shock of my life.

The first thing I noticed was that I was at WOOHP, on one of those uncomfortable steel operating tables. God, those things are murder on a person's back...

"Hey, he's awake!" I heard Haruka exclaimed, and was just as quickly near-tackled by Alex.

"You feeling all right, Nick?" Alex asked, her arms around me.

"Mostly. My head still hurts a bit, but I should be okay," I responded, returning the hug. "The last thing I remember was walking out of that place, and suddenly I saw a bit of a spark... then, nothing."

"Whoever that guy was, he probably threw something on you that electrocuted you when you walked out of there," May answered. I suddenly realized that she was in a spy suit like ours. Her color was orange, apparently. It fits.

"You're a spy now, May?" I asked.

"Yep. I've got a pretty good track record when it comes to this kinda stuff," May giggled.

"Are you feeling well enough to travel, Nick?" Jerry asked.

"I should be," I stated, hopping to my feet. "My back's kinda sore, but it's nothing I haven't handled before."

"Good. We're picking up some strange energy signals in Egypt," Jerry explained, gesturing to the viewscreen. "One of the pyramids there is outputting a very odd energy signature, and we'd like you all to investigate."

"On it, Jerry!" we all exclaimed. The girls and I used our X-Powders to switch into our spy suits, while Mat used his GBA SP to change into his motocross outfit.

Jerry suddenly smiled. "Good luck, spies."

Acting quickly, I surrounded us with a protective psychic barrier before Jerry could drop us through the floor.

"You're slipping, Jerry," I teased.

"There's always next time," Jerry responded as I dispelled the bubble and we all landed in the Skyskimmer.

_6:51 A.M., Over the Skies of Egypt_

**("Flowing Star Sand" by Mahito Yokota & Ryo Nagamatsu plays)**

"Approaching Egypt," Mat stated.

"All right, let's take a look," I proclaimed, slipping on my Cyberjacker Sunglasses and taking a look at the pyramids. I figured, since the pyramids don't normally (if ever) put out weird energy signals like this, I figured someone must be messing around with some equipment in there.

"Bingo!"

"Got something, Nick?" Alex asked.

"That pyramid over there is generating some very unusual frequencies. It sounds like someone's chatting in there, but I can't quite make out what they're saying," I explained. "We should go in and crash their party."

"Best idea I've heard all day," Sam and Haruka stated at exactly the same time.

Leaving the Skyskimmer on autopilot, we all powered up our Jetpack Backpacks and shot towards the pyramid I'd identified.

"It looks pretty normal and dusty to me," Clover noted.

"Have the Cyberjacker Sunglasses ever steered you wrong?" I teased.

Before Clover could respond to that, something shot from the ground, nearly missing us.

Before anyone could query, another laser bolt shot right at us, but I quickly deflected it with a short burst of psychic energy.

"Evasive maneuvers! They're firing on us!" I shouted.

(From **Mat49324**)

"I have an idea," Mathew replied, looking at me. "Nick, how long can you, Hikari and Haruka distract them?"

"We'll do our best!" Hikari giggled. "Just leave it to us!"

"Alright, let's work fast at this," I said to the girls.

Sam and the rest of us flew away from Nick, Haruka and Hikari.

"I hope they can distract them long enough," Alex replied.

"If they can, how will they know where to find us?" Clover asked.

"Simple, we don't stray far from them to a point where they'll have trouble finding us," Mathew replied.

"Think we'll need extra help from Britney?" Alex asked.

(Written by **S.P.D. Gold Ranger**)

(?'s P.O.V.)

I've looked out on this world and I'm disgusted by what I see.

This is why I'm doing what I'm doing.

Those idiotic spies have absolutely no idea that I'm even who they think I am.

But by the time they figure me out, it'll be too late.

The Zero Requiem will go ahead as planned.

And they won't stop me.

(Nick's P.O.V.)

"I just put in the call," May stated. "Britney will be here just as soon as she can. She just finished a mission with Megan and Yuki, so that's why she'll be delayed a bit."

"As long as she gets here, that's good enough for me!" Clover proclaimed.

"Is Clover always like that?" Hikari asked me.

"She's just impatient. We've been through quite a few missions in the past couple days, and it's kinda taking its toll on all of us," I explained, deflecting a few laser shots with more well-timed psychic bursts. "In fact, when we get back to WOOHP, I'm gonna ask Jerry if we can take a few days off. I REALLY need the rest."

Not wasting any time, I quickly pinpointed what was firing at us, and began to charge my psychic energy in my right hand until it began to glow green instead of its usual yellow.

"You're gonna love this, Hikari-chan. _Final Shine Attack!_" I shouted, releasing my gathered energy in the form of a massive, pulsing neon beam that thundered from my palm and easily destroyed the turrets that were firing on us.

"Oh, that was AWESOME!" Hikari exclaimed.

"Trust me, you'll get to see more of my talents when we find whoever's messing with us," I stated. "Now let's get into that pyramid and take care of business."

(From **Mat49324**)

Minutes later, we caught up with Sam and the others.

"Oh, you guys were able to hold them at bay?" Mathew asked.

"Definitely," Hikari answered.

"Piece of cake," Haruka added.

"Wonder if Jerry's got something on that… thing that was on your back," Sam wondered.

Just then, her X-Powder rang.

"Indeed I do," Jerry replied. "So, how's the mission going, ladies… and gentlemen?"

"Despite distractions, we haven't found much," Mathew replied.

"I know where you're going at," Jerry replied. "Why don't you spies come back and I'll inform you of what I found."

"AWESOME!" We all cheered.

"I know the first place I'm going once Jerry finishes briefing us," Sam replied.

(Written by **S.P.D. Gold Ranger**)

Before they could head off, however, Sam's X-Powder rang again. Thinking it was Jerry, Sam quickly answered it, only to see someone unfamiliar on the other end.

"Who... who are you?" Sam asked whoever was calling her.

"Never you mind that," the shadowed figure responded. The figure was so cloaked in darkness that it was impossible to make out any of the features, and the voice was being modulated so Sam couldn't run a vocal scan to determine who was talking.

"I will not have you interfering with my grand plans," the figure proclaimed. "So I must keep you busy until we are able to finish our business in Egypt. We have already collected the items from South America, Asia, and Europe, and by the end of this month, the world as you know it will no longer exist. So, have fun with your little spy game."

And with that, the transmission was cut. Almost two seconds after the call was cut, a gigantic robot dropped down from seemingly nowhere. It was a very spherical robot, with no legs (it was floating by unknown means) and it had two hulking hammers for arms.

**("Megahammer" by Mahito Yokota & Ryo Nagamatsu plays)**

"The signals from the pyramid didn't say anything about a welcoming committee!" Clover exclaimed.

"That thing didn't come from the pyramid," Mat noted, taking a look at his GBA SP. "This robot was dropped from this odd-looking helicopter a few minutes ago."

"And it thinks it's going to smash us into dust particles?" Nick challenged, his psychic aura flaring to life around him. "Nothing doing!"

Nick immediately broke into a sprint, circling the robot while peppering it with rapid-fire psychic energy bursts, none of which seemed to do any noticeable damage.

Alex quickly whipped out her X-Powder as Nick continued to circle the immense machine. After about twenty seconds of scanning, Alex looked towards Nick.

"Nick! I can see three weak spots on that thing!" Alex exclaimed. "Try aiming for those blue glass things!"

As per his girlfriend's instructions, Nick charged up and fired a bolt of psychic energy at one of the two glass cases on the front of the robot. This one did the trick, cracking the case. After a full circle around the robot, Nick fired another bolt, shattering the case.

"Jackpot!" Nick exclaimed.

Just then, one of the robot's hammer hands came smashing down to the sands in front of Nick, which would have flattened him had he not skidded to a stop.

"Too close for my palette," Nick noted before firing another bolt into the second glass case, cracking it easily.

After a couple circuits, Nick managed to shatter the second case, leaving only the one on the robot's back.

The problem? The damned thing wouldn't stay still long enough for Nick to get a clear shot.

Luckily, Alex was thinking quickly, reaching into her Jetpack Backpack and pulling out a gadget she never thought would actually be useful in a situation like this.

"Eat this, Terminator ripoff!" Alex shouted, tossing the can down onto the ground under the robot. Nick picked up on the idea quickly, firing a bolt of psychic energy that pierced the can and caused the Tornado in a Can of Hairspray to start up, a roaring whirlwind whipping up around the robot and spinning it around like mad.

When the winds died down, the robot had been slammed into the sands, with its final glass case exposed to a direct attack.

"FINISH THAT THING, NICK!" Haruka shouted.

"_Final Shine Attack!"_ Nick exclaimed, firing his signature attack into the glass casing, instantly breaking it and overloading the robot's circuits, causing it to explode on the spot.

"Owned," Nick proclaimed.

"Hey, guys, the signals from the pyramid just disappeared," Mat realized.

"And I'm willing to bet this has something to do with it," Nick stated, stepping into the wreckage of the robot and pulling out a tiny radio transmitter.

"Let's take this back to WOOHP and see if Jerry can trace it back to the source."

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Next time:

Chapter 3: Ways of the World

After decoding the transmitter that was salvaged from Megahammer, the spies head off to Paris, only to run straight into another attack in the last place they would expect...


End file.
